Microsoft is warning users about a fake anti virus product named “Security Essentials 2010”, near identical to the naming of the company’s own protection software.

The fake software is actually the trojan Win32/Fakeinit. If a user installs the software then Fakeinit’s downloader installs a fake scanner component that monitors other processes and attempts to terminate them. In some cases, processes will be flagged as if they are infected.

The trojan also lowers a number of security settings in the registry and changes the desktop background to an unchangeable multicoloured warning: YOUR SYSTEM IS INFECTED